Helen Maurene Cooper: Blue Angels

Arcadia Exhibitions is pleased to present “Helen Maurene Cooper: Blue Angels” from October 16, 2025, through October 4, 2026, in the Rosedale Gallery.

“Blue Angels” is a series of collodion-based portraits undertaken in 2017 in collaboration with the culturally diverse drag (Queen & King) communities in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Miami. The work is concerned with questions about the visual representation of LGBTQ+ persons from the 19th century. By using the popular image making technology of the Victorian era, Cooper complicates the social and visual history — giving face to a real but imagined community. The prints presented in this exhibition include one-of-a-kind ambrotypes on black glass as well as salt prints, an early form of paper-based printing.

Cooper first exhibited Blue Angels At Bert Green Fine Art Chicago in 2019. the work was reviewed in the publication,  New City, which spoke to Cooper’s larger artistic practice.  “Cooper, who has been working at the intersection of race, class and gender for years, urges the viewer to contemplate an era long gone, which at the same time, was not so different than ours: Stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination against marginalized social groups are alive and well, and falling into the trap of such attitudes runs the risk of damaging social cohesion, instead of fostering stronger community ties by bringing people closer together.”

The artist maintains a cross-disciplinary practice that involves research, writing, installation, performance and photography—but it’s the latter she holds especially dear. “Photography holds my attention because in its short history, there have been many technological advancements—each is a mirror of the time of its invention.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Helen Maurene Cooper is an artist and educator living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She earned an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA from Bard College.

Selected exhibitions include “Paint & Polish,” Onomatopee (Eindhoven, Netherlands); “PROTAGONIST – Contemporary Art from America,” Claremorris Gallery (Claremorris, Ireland); “The Party’s Over,” Soap Factory (Minneapolis, Minnesota); “Reinas Del Azucar, with Rosemari Romero,” Space Mountain (Miami, Florida); and “I Have Vivid Memories of Lighting,” Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (Chicago, Illinois). She has received awards and fellowships from the Cultural Council of Eindhoven, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the University of Chicago.

Her 2017 monograph, Paint & Polish: Visual Economy and Visual Culture from the West Side was reviewed in Bust.com, New City, Nails Magazine and the Creators Vice Magazine. Artist talks have been given at PS1, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Kansas City Art Institute, Elmhurst Art Museum, The Arts Incubator at University of Chicago and Oxbow School of Painting.